Norway Campaign
April 9th 1940 and HMS Renown opens fire on the Gneisenau. Scharnhorst is there too and trains its guns on the Renown whose 10 accompanying destroyers are beyond range.
OTL Renown was hit twice by 11" shells that failed to explode while Gneisenau was hit 3 times having a turret rendered inoperable and its fire direction knocked out. Then they part company in the gloom as Scharnhorst and Gneisenau run away.
In ATL land things change. One of the 11" shells has exploded on the Renown. The damage is not great but there's alot of smoke. The confidence of the Germans grows. Admiral Lutjens decides to hurt the Renown a little more. He knows she's an old ship and a Battlecruiser. British Battlecruisers liked to blow up in the last war. Would they blow up now?
He dared not hope for that but with smoke visible could he force her to retreat. The world would see that the Kriegsmarine was just as good as the Luftwaffe and the Wehrmacht.
He orders the Scharnhorst to close the range while the Gneisenau with its damaged rear turret moves on ahead. She will re enter the fight if needed.
Shells fall around the Renown. Admiral Whitworth is not worried by this. He knows the Renown is old, older than many of her crew but she has been modernised extensively. She is a battlecruiser but so are the ships she's facing. They have 11" guns and he has 15". He knows that this is not Jutland or at least he hopes it's not. He knows that his fire control is as good as anything the Germans have and he knows his shells won't break up n impact but will hurt when they land. He is just seen the Gneisenau run behind the Scharnhorst. He knows he has hurt her. Can he hurt the Scharnhorst too?
TBC
April 9th 1940 and HMS Renown opens fire on the Gneisenau. Scharnhorst is there too and trains its guns on the Renown whose 10 accompanying destroyers are beyond range.
OTL Renown was hit twice by 11" shells that failed to explode while Gneisenau was hit 3 times having a turret rendered inoperable and its fire direction knocked out. Then they part company in the gloom as Scharnhorst and Gneisenau run away.
In ATL land things change. One of the 11" shells has exploded on the Renown. The damage is not great but there's alot of smoke. The confidence of the Germans grows. Admiral Lutjens decides to hurt the Renown a little more. He knows she's an old ship and a Battlecruiser. British Battlecruisers liked to blow up in the last war. Would they blow up now?
He dared not hope for that but with smoke visible could he force her to retreat. The world would see that the Kriegsmarine was just as good as the Luftwaffe and the Wehrmacht.
He orders the Scharnhorst to close the range while the Gneisenau with its damaged rear turret moves on ahead. She will re enter the fight if needed.
Shells fall around the Renown. Admiral Whitworth is not worried by this. He knows the Renown is old, older than many of her crew but she has been modernised extensively. She is a battlecruiser but so are the ships she's facing. They have 11" guns and he has 15". He knows that this is not Jutland or at least he hopes it's not. He knows that his fire control is as good as anything the Germans have and he knows his shells won't break up n impact but will hurt when they land. He is just seen the Gneisenau run behind the Scharnhorst. He knows he has hurt her. Can he hurt the Scharnhorst too?
TBC